How Lake County family became fundraising superstars in fight against Cystic Fibrosis

BALDWIN, MI – The secret of successful fundraising is in the first three letters – fun. At least that’s the word that comes up repeatedly in talking with Logan’s Heroes, the top fundraising team in the Grand Rapids Great Strides walkathon for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The team is composed of about 20 friends and family members of 4-year-old Logan Tyler of Grand Rapids, who was diagnosed with CF when he was a few months old. Each year, about a month before the annual May walkathon, the team sponsors a dinner/auction in Baldwin that attracts 250 to 300 people and raises about 15 to 25 percent of all the money collected in the Grand Rapids walk.

“It’s exciting, like a giant yard sale,” said Char Dagen, Logan’s grandmother and one of the organizers of the event. This year’s dinner on April 21 was a little bit barbecue, a little bit bake sale, a little bit charity auction and a lot of fun. One of the top items auctioned off was a guitar donated by rocker Ted Nugent, which brought in $550.

Logan’s other grandmother, Lil Clary, is in charge of the dinner, while Dagen organizes the auction. Family members start in February writing letters to restaurants, resorts, tourist attractions, sports teams and celebrities asking for donations.

HOW TO HELP

Upcoming Great Strides events in West Michigan. For more information, to register for the walk or donate, visit cff.org or call (616) 956-6850.

• CF is a life-threatening genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive systems.
• One in 31 Americans is an unknowing, symptomless carrier of the defective CF gene.
• Each time two carriers conceive there is a 25 percent chance they will have a child with CF.
• The average life expectancy is about 37, more than double the predicted life span 30 years ago.

“It’s cold and snowy and sending out letters is easy,” Dagen said. “In a few weeks the donations start coming in. We can’t wait for the mail to come to see what we will get. It’s like Christmas.”

“We all send the same letter and tweak it a little for each recipient,” said Nancy Clary-Martinez, one of Logan’s aunts. “We give a little background about CF. We’re on a mission to find a cure.”

The donations collect in a pole barn behind the Lake County home of Dave and Char Dagen and in the weeks before the auction, Char pulls together packages with a dinner, an overnight stay, tickets to entertainment. She created 32 packages this year, including stays in Frankenmuth, Little River Casino and Grand Rapids. Most of the packages sold for bargain prices of $200 to $300.

“People can get some really good deals,” Dagen said.

Some auction items are just for fun. One year they auctioned off the opportunity to toss a cream pie into the face of Dave Dagen, who’s chief deputy for the Lake County Sheriff’s Department as well as Logan’s grandpa. Another year, Logan’s aunt Sara Bloom sold a jar of snow on eBay to raise $200 to buy a barbecue grill to raffle off.

Matt Gade | mlive.comLogan Tyler, 4, doesn't let his Cystic Fibrosis slow him down and his family, from left, mom Jennifer Clary, 9-year-old brother Brendan and dad Jim, along with extended family and friends have created the Logan's Heroes, which is raises funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk in Grand Rapids on May 19.

“She wrote a song about it, and it got a lot of attention,” Dagen said.
When the family planned their first event in 2009, they were hoping to raise $2,000.

“I didn’t want them to be disappointed,” Dagen said. “Times are hard.”

About half of the family members live in Lake County, one of the lowest income counties in the state, and the event was scheduled in Lake County. Everyone was surprised when it raised $10,000.

“It was supposed to be a one-time thing but people kept saying it was so much fun we had to do it again the next year,” Dagen said.

The second year raised $25,000, about a quarter of the money raised for that year’s Great Strides walk in Grand Rapids. The third year raised $17,000 and this year has already collected $12,000.

“We’re a force to be reckoned with,” said Clary-Martinez, who lives on Grand Rapids’ West Side.

Although Logan’s Heroes has been the top team four years running, most of the 400 walkers who will participate in Grand Rapids this year are friends and family of CF patients. Many hold pre-events such as pancake breakfasts or partner with a restaurant to give a portion of an evening’s proceeds.

In 2011, the foundation sponsored 18 walks in Michigan cities, raising more than $708,000. That same year, the foundation gave $716,000 back to Michigan, including supporting the nine CF centers where the state’s 1,000 CF patients are treated.

“The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was started by families,” said Rob Powell, development director for the foundation’s Greater Michigan Chapter. “Families continue to play the most vital role. They bring teams together. They connect us to the business community. They help to get the message out. They are responsible for the steps were making to find a cure for CF.”

CF research took a giant step this year with the release of Kalydeco, the first FDA approved medication to treat the basic cellular defect in CF. The gene mutation which this medication addresses only affects a small percentage of CF patients, but the advancement is encouraging for all genetic diseases.

Cystic Fibrosis causes digestive and respiratory problems. When Logan was diagnosed after repeated lung infections, his parents, Jennifer Clary and Jim Tyler, were overwhelmed with all the respiratory treatments and medications he needed. They didn’t have much time left for fundraising.

“It’s part of my job to be an advocate for him,” his mother said. “If I don’t do it, who is going to? But I didn’t see how we could both work full time, take care of him and have any time left for fundraising. We talked to our families, and they kind of took it over. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

Clary said she is amazed by the donations that come in. One person donated a horse for the auction. A craftsman gives handmade furniture every year and area businesses donate raffle items.

“There’s a lot of good people supporting this,” she said. “I’m excited to be part of it. We have a lot of fun.”